Industry Trend Or Not...I graduate!

Can you believe it?! I still cannot. In two days I graduate with my Master of Science degree in Entertainment Business! A year has already gone by and everyone is commenting “didn’t you just start yesterday?” The fact that I was adamant about not going back to school after my Bachelors, it’s crazy that I’m here. I would like to thank Professor Evans who changed my mind back in my undergrad, who stressed and kind of forced her class to continue their education. Even though I took a year break from then, one of my goals was to obtain my next degree before the age of 25. Praise the Lord it has been achieved!

Now that I will be looking for employment, the things that I will have to look at is how trends are affecting the industry I want. I would love to work in live special events, such as launch parties, award shows, fashion shows, and the likes. According to an article about the evolution of the industry, Elle Magazine executive director said, “Each year it gets harder to impress people. The audience is much more knowledgeable, and you really want to stand out and keep them wanting more,” and “You have to overdeliver.”

The biggest trend is brand marketing, which is huge in this industry. Many companies use events as part of their marketing campaign. Hopefully I can take advantage of this. I took a digital marketing class and I think I am someone with crazy ideas already so it might work out. Another interesting trend is making Special Events smaller. Most of us are used to the big spectacles but it seems that lately the idea is “To focus not on quantity, but, rather, quality, and create a more personal experience for guests.” The intimacy factor makes patrons a part of the experience. This is refreshing actually because producers will not necessarily have to worry about the numbers as a measure of how successful an event was.

What’s the Alternative?

For many people, the nation’s economy is still greatly affecting them. And for those who have a deep desire to start a business but don’t have the funds, where can they look for that? Credit interest rates are high, loan rates are high, investors want a lot of equity, and there is so much risk out there. Luckily, there are some alternative ways to receive funding. Alternative funding can be compared to a cash advance essentially. The Corporation for Enterprise Development (cfed.org) helps low and middle-income households get to programs that will help them get to a path of financial security. The opportunities made available through CFED are access to the resources that will help you build your assets. It’s policy agenda focuses on financial assets and income, businesses and jobs, housing and homeownership, education, and health care.

Another company that helps create opportunities for entrepreneurs is the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (microenteroriseworks.org or aeoworks.org). Through them you are able to find a mentor and network with other small business owners. There’s been a trend recently that you may have heard of, Small Business Saturday, which is essentially about shopping at your local small business to contribute to the economic growth of the nation. AEO basically functions as such by promoting this interaction between owners. It has a green initiative to help the environment as well as save on costs for small businesses.

Both websites of these Alternative Funding Organizations have links to all the initiatives, policies, and programs that they are offering or making users aware of as a resource. Most requirements are that you must be within an income range to obtain help from these organizations. These sites have the links to the sites where you would apply so the requirements of those specifically may vary. However, I recommend both as a good central point to help you financially. They provide a huge network, which just like in entertainment, you need! 

Fashion Show Recap

So the Park Avenue Fashion Week event I volunteered for was ah-mazing! My classmate and I helped out with the food and beverages department of the fashion show. My station was serving drinks to the patrons and I had fun talking to and serving them. I even developed "regulars" where I knew exactly what they wanted. This department was headed by the owners of Maxine's on Shine, two very knowledgeable and fun people to work with. The show itself was the longest fashion show I’ve ever seen but it was still very good and I thouroughly enjoyed myself and it seemed that everyone else did too. There were plenty of clothes and models. My station partner was a mother of two of the models and she was a blast to work with. Her daughter actually was on a season of Project Runway as a model and I believe one of the designers from there had a collection in this show. Regardless, the greatest part I got to witness was at the end of the wedding dress scene. As the last model was walking, her boyfriend got on stage and proposed! It was perfect and she said yes! I didn't get to take many pictures since I was working, but the set up and energy reminded me of why I want to be a Creative Director. 

My classmate and I at breakdown

 I even met the director of a past event I volunteered for and chatted up a bit for next years production.

Make sure to check out my upcoming events tab!

How Invested Are You?

The entertainment industry forever contains “newbies” but there are few, in comparison, those who are considered experts in the field. Those who have been there, and done that, and gone through the mistakes and successes of being in the industry and still matter. Well, despite whatever industry you are in, your hope is to last and hopefully be able to guide others. Many goals are to start up a successful business but to do that, one must have a good business plan that he/she can take to investors. Two men who are considered experts when it comes to business plans are Chuck Blakeman and Kevin Hartz.

Chuck Blakeman is an entrepreneur and business mentor, he has his own business that provides tools for business owners to make money in less time. He is interesting because he believes that a new company does not need a business plan. Instead, they should be out doing rather than wasting time planning. In an interview he shared that vision, speed of execution, time in market, and business maturity date are the key components for a business owner. His reasoning for these are “you get what you intend, not what you hope for.”

Chuck Blakeman

Kevin Hartz is the founder/CEO of Eventbrite, an online company that helps people discover, create, and promote events along with ticket sales. According to AngelList, most of his investments are in social media platforms, the most popular being Pinterest. Hartz, in a Forbes article talked about how he likes to invest in companies that have smart and driven entrepreneurs, attacks big markets, and make their services available on multiple platforms. He learned these from his own company so it is understandable that he would look for the same characteristics when investing in a start-up.

Kevin Hartz

Both investors are obviously very knowledgeable but different in their approach to business plans. When looking for an investor, your passion must be high to attract them first, then the logistics. 

Are You On The Market?

I read this really great article on event marketing with the digital world and I highly suggest you read it too. Essentially, it describes the relationship between the two as not being a very good one. The computer is a great communication tool, but with event marketing who is going to be carrying a laptop around? A computer/ website is useful up to a point, before and after an event but then is just about completely useless at the very moment of a special event. As the article describes, marketing is lost since…“The time period missing is the event itself -- the time when consumer interest is naturally at it’s highest. This is prime time to advertise, update, publicize, and inform.”…

Here comes the cellphone to the rescue. The mobile phone offers various interactive methods and it is almost guaranteed that whoever walks through the doors to an event has one. Because of this, event organizers can engage with the audience and extend revenue opportunities. This interaction of the person with their cellphone brings up the world of Web 3.0, which is the personal web and mobile data. Here, event organizers can create mobile programs that provide schedules, branded updates, exclusive access, seat arrangements, registration, and may be even used as a pass for entry! “Event-based mobile media access keeps it personal, practical, and direct.“ as explained by the author. This mobile application should be combined with other campaign tactics such as kiosks to gain more PR opportunities.

exinary.com

This new century approach is able to catch an event’s audience much better than traditional methods of interaction. Those methods include prior promotions, kiosks, tents with laptops, and more. As I stated in my previous post, I am traditional therefore personal interactions would matter to me at these functions, which is something that was not brought up in this article at all. Word-of-mouth is still the top marketing strategy with high credibility and costs nothing. Even so, the combination of all these elements will greatly aid the special events industry.